The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-22
Beeeher on Labor Questions.


Thelate Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
spoke ON the labor question at the recent
dinner of Polytechnic Alumni in Brook
iyn. He said:
wish / was young enough to take
a hand in the fight which see approach
ing. There never has been a time when
history was making 50 fast and on lines
so high as now. While the educated
portion of our society, in this country is
calm and peaceful. the base, the foun-
dation of society Is boiled and per-
turbed. i believe that all will eventu-
ally be for the interest and welfare of
the nation. l am glad to see the seeth-
ing and boiling, for the liquid will be
all the clearer for it, but before the good
time comes there is time of great
trouble when all educated men must
stand shoulder To shoulder for the right.
There Is not one principle that was
wrought out by our forefathers i'm blood
and toll. but il Is violated to-day by the
base of society. Violence and Injustice
stalk abroad, liberty has fled, safety is
following, immense forces are prepar-
ing which threaten so sweep our Amer
lean institutions and substitute in their
stead oligarchies. 1t is your glorious
privilege to preserve your country, in
this her latest hour of danger. l believe
inv the common people. | sympathize
with them l grant that they suffer
wrong and there Is "A measure of justice
in their demand, but l should not be
sorry to see them get a lesson. Capital.
Labor! What is capital? Why, capital
is nothing but labor cryst allied. And
labor: | should like To know who is a
laborer if | am not. 1t is the height of
impudence to say that that is labor
which the hand performs and that
which the head does is not labor. You
know and l know that the work
| of the head is not only labor
| but the hardest kind of labor
! Yet such heresies as these are being
openly taught. They are bred ip the
| bone, but they can be cured, ana it il
| your task to cure them. l am glad OF
| this stirring up in the fields of toll, for il
viii be vast educational means.
| know that some of the movements now
| on foot for the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of what
/ il called labor. run counter To natural
| laws, and civil laws, and common sense
/ and philanthropy, and justice. and po
| litical economy, but | am glad To SET
| these movements because through them
the common people will learn lesson in
| political economy which will be worth
| all their suffering. You are going int.
| this conflict. Don't he afraid of voting
right and speaking your mind. How
ever the parties may stand at first, IL
sure that they will swing into line fol
| the defense of the country and Ameri
! can Institutions as soon as they see tha
the attack is dangerous. We are in
! great fermentation. in which the funda
mental principles of our society is in
! volved. You who are educated mus
stand firm for fair, open counsels; fol
the whole people, for the rights of th'
individual, for the right of men to or
g;inizc and strike as often as they please
and for what causes they please, and fol
the equal right of other men to take
their places if they and the employees
agree. You must support the right %
the working man. but you must also in
sist on the right of the employer. In
Il e meantime. don't think that the maf
who handles the handspike is working
man. and the man who handles tn,
thought and the pen is not. No man il
more to- be honOred for his work, ne
man has more right To the remuneration
his labor brings in than the producer %
| thought.